Child's Play
by PigsFlyWithEleanor
Summary: Kira is childish and hates to lose. L is childish and hates to lose. But what happens when an actual child accidently becoms involved in the Kira investigation?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey there! Okay, so this is the first part of my first ever DN fanfic. *party poppers* This chapter is more of an introductory one - existing characters and stuff will be introduced next part! ^.^ Please R&R, it makes me happy :)**

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><p>In what was probably a dark time for most of the people in Japan, never mind the whole world, it seemed that a small child still never failed to bring a smile to their face.<p>

"Thank you! Thank you so much!" The young girl beamed, clutching the battered panda toy to her chest and watching as the man straightened up. He had a faint smile, she had an expression of pure relief. Suddenly it was replaced by one of shock, and her head whipped around to look down the busy street. "Oh! I have to go! But thank you!" She gave the man a quick wave before taking off, running down the street and pushing through groups of people until she was suddenly stopped in her tracks. Namely, by another man reaching out and catching her around the waist, although this man she recognised.

"Keiko! Where did you go, my little star? I was getting worried!" At her father's voice Keiko giggling, wriggling against her father's grip until he relented and let go. Keiko's smile faded then to be replaced with an expression of pure innocence, holding the panda up by a paw so it dangled in her father's face. "I dropped Star Junior! But a nice man picked him up and gave him back to me and now we're back together again!" She quickly explained, burying her face in the toy's matted fur.

"Well, just be careful. You know not to go talking to strange men, Keiko. Remember when I told you where that got me?" A frown was on Keiko's face as she nodded. Of course, being five years old, she hadn't been alive to witness the event that her father was referring to, but she'd been told about it, and in the process had learnt that alcohol was Very Bad and fighting strange people with alcohol was Very Bad. Even if you were only doing something called self defensive. Keiko wasn't too sure about that part.

In response to her father's question Keiko simply nodded, before deciding to change the subject. That was the nature of her mind – always quickly flicking from one thing to the next. "Daddddd, I'm tired!" She moaned, rubbing her eyes with Star Jr's paw. "Can we go home now? Aren't you done shopping? I know I am!" She looked up at her father, tucking her toy underneath her arm so she could take her father's hand as she watched him mull things over, before sighing in defeat. "Alright, I guess I am done. Lead the way then." Keiko, suddenly looking more awake, cheered then, squeezing his hand before starting to walk, tugging her father along behind her so he had no choice but to follow.

And then her father suddenly stopped.

"Dad?" Keiko paused when she felt that her father was no longer moving, feeling his hand slip out of hers. "Dad?" Repeating the word, she turned around, frowning at her father. The hand that she had been holding had flown to his chest, almost as if he was trying to clutch his heart. His face showed just pure shock as he sank to the floor. Now Keiko's expression matched his. "Dad?" The word was repeated a third time as she knelt down beside her father, flinching as he tensed and began to twist, almost as if he was trying to turn around to look at Keiko. "K-Keiko..."

"Yes, dad?" No response. "Yes, dad?" Still no response. Keiko reached out and shook his shoulder. "Dad!" For the second time Star Jr was dropped to the ground as Keiko used both hands to shake her father's body, fully expecting him to jump up and take her home like nothing had just happened. A quick glance up allowed Keiko to see that people on the street had started to take notice and move closer, allowing her to pick up a few words of their conversations.

"...just happened?"

"Heart attack, possibly..."

"...Kira?"

"Poor kid."

"Yeah, the kid..."

"...he dead?"

At the mention of the word 'dead' Keiko's head snapped up, glancing around to see a small group had formed around her and her dad. "Dead?" She repeated quietly, looking back down at the still man on the floor. "No!" Just like that tears started flowing, and the young girl threw herself over her father's body as if she were trying to protect it from any more harm. "No no NO!" She felt a light pressure on her shoulder, probably someone's hand, but she jerked violently to throw it off. "DAD!" Keiko couldn't even pick out the voices and conversations any more – she was just focused on one thing: her dad appeared to actually be dead and not just playing a game like she'd thought.

He wasn't going to get up.

She was alone.

And she did the only thing a terrified, upset five year old could really do in a situation like this.

Scooping up her toy, a flustered Keiko got to her feet and ran.

"Hey, kid!" A flurry of movement as people noticed that Keiko was starting the process of abandoning the scene and some made a movement to catch her, but they lacked the practice of her father and so Keiko was able to dart past them and run off down the street. Blinking furiously to try and clear her vision of tears, Star Jr clutched to her chest much like her father had clutched his, she ran, past crowds of shoppers and into an alleyway once she was off the main street. It was then she had to stop, flopping against the wall and breathing deeply to try and regain her breath.

Hide. She had to hide. If she hid somewhere dark, and closed her eyes and thought hard, she'd wake up! Of course! Wiping her eyes, Keiko hurried further down the alley, eventually coming across something that looked like... well, she didn't know what it was. Standing right on her tiptoes, and then climbing onto a box and then a bin, she pushed open the lid, wrinkling her nose at the smell. Eugh. Still, it was dark!She could wake up now. "It's okay, Star Jr, it's okay." She whispered into the panda's head, receiving no response as she gently lowered herself into the dumpster. Ow! Wincing, Keiko withdrew all of her limbs so she was curled into a tight ball after shutting the lid, wiping away a few more tears that leaked before allowing her eyelids to slowly slide shut.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part two is a go-go. Actual canon characters! Thanks to Katana Miiruken for reviewing :) To the Anon who said this is crappy and I should feel crappy, thank you for your constructive feedback.**

**R&R? I'll give strawberries :)  
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><p><em>Don't open your eyes yet. Don't open your eyes until you hear your dad's voice and then everything will be alright!<em>

Keiko was dimly aware that the ground underneath her felt a little bit softer now, and she seemed to have uncurled from the little ball of security she had formed when she had first climbed into the dumpster. But she thought nothing of that - until her arm jerked and she noticed a distinct lack of something. Namely, Star Jr. Well, it was no good now! She had to open her eyes and find him! Groaning, Keiko slowly opened one eye, blinking to try and clear sleep out of it before it focused... on another eye.

Now she was awake. Keiko yelled out, sitting up and scrambling backwards until she hit what appeared to be a sofa. The eye she had been so shocked by also jumped backwards, revealing the male body it was part of. He yelled out as well, but unlike Keiko, he stopped wailing after a moment or two. His hands covering his ears, he watched Keiko helplessly. "Huhhh? What did I do?"

"You probably just scared her, Matsuda, you idiot." Keiko stopped wailing then to glance in the direction of the other voice, another male one. She opened her mouth, intending to ask something along the lines of what was going on and where was she and where was Star Jr, but all that came out was "...D-dad?" A pause, and then the floodgates opened. "Dad died! Dad died in my dream and then I ran away and I climbed into a big... thing and dad was dead!"

There was silence. The man who someone had called Matsuda made a small wincing sound, getting up out of his crouching position and looking along with everyone else at Keiko, who was kneeling on the sofa wiping her eyes with a small smile. "B-but I'm awake now! So everything's fine! Where's my dad?"

More silence, before Keiko looked down and said very, very quietly "It wasn't a dream, was it?"

_Dad's dead. Dad really did die. He died and I ran away and got into that thing and he's dead. _It felt as if Keiko's heart was breaking into even more pieces every time she repeated that fact in her head. _Dad's dead._ She couldn't just wander out of this strange building to her own home and find her dad sat there, watching TV like he normally was, because he was dead. She wouldn't be able to distract him from said TV anymore by jumping onto his lap and deliberately obscuring his light of sight, because he wasn't alive to sit there. She wouldn't be able to lay there and listen to her dad's stories of what a beautiful and amazing person her mother had been, because _now her dad was dead too._

By the time Keiko had run all of this through her head Matsuda had sat down next to her, and Keiko took the opportunity for something to cling onto. Ignoring the fact that she had never met this person before in her life and he was a complete stranger - something she had been told to avoid - Keiko shuffled across the sofa and buried her face in Matsuda's side, wailing in a slightly muffled voice "My dad's DEAD!"

It was then that the second voice sounded again, a hint of irritation in his words. "Matsuda, remind me why we brought this girl back here?"

"Light, are you telling me we should have just left her in the dumpster? Surely not..." Matsuda responded, a slightly concerned expression on his face as he awkwardly tried to comfort her, mostly by patting her on the back. He decided to change the subject ever so slightly. "Where are the others?"

Light jerked a hand over his shoulder, watching Keiko as she continued to sob. "Just through there. They decided to review all of the information we have regarding the Second Kira."

"Well, I hate to interrupt something Ryuzaki wants to do, but..." Matsuda made a flailing sort of gesture towards Keiko, who had finally sat up and curled into a ball, resting her head on her knees and watching Light with tearful eyes. "What're we going to do with the kid? I mean, we found her sleeping in a dumpster! I say we should take her to the police and-"

"You're forgetting that we've already brought her to the police. Granted, a slightly different branch of it, but the basic fact remains the same." At Light's cooly delivered fact Matsuda smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "I guess, yeah. Sooooo I guess we should ask the police what to do?" But first he turned to Keiko, asking in a soft voice "What can we call you, kid?"

For a moment Keiko simply sat and stared at Matsuda. And then she started crying again. "D-dad always used to call me his little star!" Wincing at the fact that he appeared to have upset Keiko yet again, Matsuda got up, taking Keiko's hand and gently guiding her off the sofa. Light took the lead, leading Matsuda and Keiko through a doorway and into a different room. A group of people could be seen gathered around a chair, and most of them turned to look when Keiko stumbled slightly and made a rather loud noise thanks to it. She simply stood there and watched the older people, sniffling occasionally and playing with a strand of her blonde hair. It had long since come out of the ponytail her dad had lovingly tied for her that morning, like he did pretty much every morning, hence why it now hung around her shoulders in messy, scraggly waves. Clearly, fall asleep in a dumpster did nothing for your hair, or a red dress for that matter.

Eventually, someone spoke. "Light... is this the child you and Matsuda found on your way back from Aoyama?" At first Keiko couldn't see who was speaking. Wiping her eyes as if that would make it clearer, she shuffled from side to side a little bit, finally realising that someone was in the chair everyone was gathered around when an older looking man stepped to the side so the two could see each other. He appeared to be hunched over the back of the chair, simply staring at Keiko. Who decided to ask a question that had just popped into her mind.

"Are you a panda?"

A moments pause, before Keiko continued. "You have eyes like a panda." She pointed out, rubbing the area underneath her eyes in what she thought was a good demonstration of what the male's eyes were like.

The man paused, chewing on his thumb and glancing at the people around the chair. "Hm... Do I look like a panda?" A few murmers. Matsuda decided to answer the earlier question. "Yes, Ryuzaki, she said her name was Star-"

"Star Jr!" Clearly, talking about pandas had reminded Keiko of her beloved toy, and she tugged on the nearest person's - Light's - arm. "We have to go and find him! I can't lose him too! We have to find him!"

Watching Light as he gently prised Keiko away, Ryuzaki was silent. Then, spinning back around in his chair to pick up his cup, he said "From the name and the way she speaks about this Star Jr, he's most likely to be a toy. It'll be in the dumpster you found her in. Light, go and find Star Jr with Star."

"Ryuzaki, it's dark, we'll never be able to find it." Light protested. "Besides, we can't keep Star here."

"Like you said, Light, it's night now. We have no choice really but to keep her here" Ryuzaki responded, taking a sip of his drink before drowning and adding more sugar. "Right now, my concerns lie with the Second Kira. Star can be sorted in the morning."

Keiko wasn't going to take no for an answer, gripping Light's hand with determination on her face. "Come on! You have to help me find Star Jr!" A sharp tug, taking Light by surprise and causing him to stumble forwards. "Come ON!" And with that, Keiko started to drag Light along, much like how she had tugged her father along earlier that day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Decided to try something different here and try writing from Light's point of view. Not sure if I pulled it off, but hey x.x Thanks to torixx, LightningStar and MidnightStorm** **for reviewing****! And yes, Midnight, I like the colour red**.

**Onwards!**

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><p>"You don't even find her the slightest bit cute?"<p>

As per usual, Light automatically glanced around. The dark streets were completely still, so he answered Ryuk. "Just because I have a little sister, Ryuk, does not mean I automatically find all little girls 'cute'."

As instructed by Ryuzaki, Light was currently guiding Keiko - or 'Star', as she was known by the task force - back through the streets to the dumpster the young girl had been sleeping in earlier. All for a daft toy panda. The girl herself was further up the straight path, balancing on the edges of the pavement as if she was a tightrope walker. Occasionally she stumbled and fell off, and Light was really hoping she didn't fall and injure herself. He really didn't want to carry a wailing child along with a dirty panda toy back to the headquarters.

"Hey, Light... you know there's no-one around-" Cutting Ryuk's sentence off by pulling an apple out of his pocket and tossing it over his shoulder, not taking his gaze off Keiko. What would happen to her? Light didn't know how he'd feel when his father died. It wasn't something he particularly thought about, in all honesty. His father's death wasn't necessary, and as a result it didn't exactly linger in his thoughts. As for Keiko, she appeared to have witnessed her father's death in its entirety. How would that affect her? Right now she seemed to be perfectly happy, spinning and skipping and messing around like she hadn't a care in the world.

Although the event would probably come back to haunt her later.

"Take a left now." Keiko paused, glancing around to look at Light as he called out to her, before nodding and changing direction. She seemed a little more subdued now, most likely because there weren't any more edges to balance on, not now they were turning into an alleyway. When Light finally caught up to her she was stood on tiptoe, strained to reach the lid of a dumpster that Light recognised as the one he had been lifting the girl out of earlier. "Here, I'll get that." Keiko stepped away from the dumpster then, watching with wide eyes and hugging her arms to her chest as she watched the older boy easily lift up the lid to allow access to the dumpster. She probably saw it as an act of kindness, but really? Light wanted this to be over with as quickly as possible. There were a hundred and one things he could be doing right now.

Well, a hundred and one names he could be writing.

"Light, I can't see!" Keiko pouted, before holding out her arms, looking up expectantly. It took Light a moment to realise what she was waiting for. Rolling his eyes, he bent down and scooped her up, swinging her up and over so she was perched on the edge of the dumpster. Keiko frowned, swinging her legs back and forth as her eyes scanned the area inside for signs of Star Jr - a paw, a piece of fur, a flash of black and white, anything to indicate that her beloved panda was lurking in amongst all this other junk...

"There! There he is!" Keiko suddenly squealed, almost toppling backwards in her happiness. Quickly supporting her back, Light scanned the piles of rubbish, eventually spotting a stuffed panda lying in a rather sorry bundle towards the corner of the container. From here he could see a few strange yellow stains corrupting the white of the toy's fur, but Keiko either hadn't noticed or just didn't care, judging by how she was straining both of her arms down towards it. "I can't reach!"

"Come on, babysitter. Get the toy for the kid!" Gritting his teeth but showing no other reaction to Ryuk's laughter and mocking words, Light shifted his position so he could support Keiko's back and reach down into the dumpster, his fingers eventually closing around something soft. _Finally._

As he was leaning over, a small piece of paper fell out of his blazer pocket and started fluttering through the air.

Keiko went slightly cross eyed as she watched the piece of paper drift past her nose, flailing her arms slightly as she tried to snatch it out of the air. When Light straightened up, clutching the panda in his hand, his eyes met Keiko's, creased in a smile as she held the piece of paper she had finally managed to catch with her tiny hands. "Did you drop something, Light?"

It didn't take long for Light to realise what that innocent looking piece of paper was. "Star, put that down-" He began, even though he already knew it was too late.

If he'd had any doubts about it being too late or what Keiko was holding, they were soon cast away. Keiko's eyes slid from Light's to look over his shoulder at Ryuk, staring at him for a few moments. And then she screamed, forcing Light to drop Star Jr back into the dumpster so he could catch Keiko and prevent her from toppling in after her toy. Glaring at Ryuk as if it was his fault that the piece of the Death Note had fallen out of his pocket, Light swung Keiko over the edge of the dumpster and put her back on the ground, picking up the panda toy and looking down to see Keiko clinging onto his leg, staring up at Ryuk. "Light... What's that?"

"He's..." _Come on, Light, think! It should be easy to fob a five year old girl off!_

"...He's my mystical imaginary friend."

Okay, that was probably the lamest thing he had ever said.

However, Light's words seemed to have done the trick, as Keiko's muscles relaxed and her eyes returned to their normal size. "B-but how come I can see him?" As Light was thinking of an answer, Keiko slowly raised her hand and waved at Ryuk, who made a small noise before making a quick hand movement. Then Light continued to speak, crouching down next to the young girl so he could be face to face with her as they both looked up at Ryuk. "Well, you see, Ryuk here is normally very shy. But he feels alright around you, and that's why you can see him!" Keiko nodded in acceptance of the words, prompting Light to add "But because he's shy..." He reached out, gently pressing a finger to Keiko's lips. "Don't tell anyone else about him, okay?"

"But maybe if we tell other people, he'll be less-"

"No," Light insisted, "Don't tell anyone. You don't want him to be scared, do you?"

"No, of course not! I won't tell anyone about you, Ryuk!"

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><p><em>Was it really necessary to give Star that 'explanation' about Ryuk? <em>Star Jr had been returned to its owner, and Light and Keiko were now on their way back in much the same way they had gone to the dumpster in: Keiko running and jumping and tightrope walking ahead, Light walking behind her, often lost in his own thoughts and shouting a direction now and then. _After all, I could have just passed it off as her playing a silly imaginary game. _A pause as Light thought over not just the events of the trip, but everything he knew about 'Star' at this moment in time. _No, it was better telling her that story. She'd probably have gone back to the others and, judging by how she explained her 'dream', told them __every single little detail, including how Ryuk revealed himself to her after she caught a piece of paper I dropped. _

Light paused in his thought process to call "Wait for me, Keiko." before she hurtled around the corner and out of his sight. It wouldn't do too well if they found the lost toy but lost the owner. _If she said that, and there's still a chance that she might accidentally spill that little detail, I could still pass it off as a game that I was playing with her. But then, for some reason, L might ask to see the piece of paper she caught... _ Frowning, Light pulled the piece of the Death Note out of his pocket, turning it over in his hands and studying it. _It's only a tiny detail... I could just hand him a normal notebook that the piece could have come from. _It really did just look like it had been torn from a normal notebook. _But what if she mentions my 'imaginary friend'? That would surely prompt L to start some form of surveillance again to try and catch me talking to myself or something, just in case... And what if he makes some sort of link with the Shinigami mentioned on those tapes? It's sometimes impossible to predict how his mind works..._

Light out the piece of paper away in his pocket, turning his attention back to Keiko in front of him. _No, no matter how much I reason everything out, I can't risk her letting loose any sort of detail, even if I did tell her to be quiet. She can't stay here. _A sudden thought popped into his head, and to be honest, it was a little disturbing. _From the conversation Matsuda and Star had, it seems unlikely that Star is her real name. He took some information out of context when she was wailing about her father. But could I really kill an innocent five year old girl? _He shook his head, ignoring Ryuk's questioning stare. _No, that would be completely unnecessary, especially as the task force appear to be making arrangements for her to go into some sort of care. If I just play an active part in the arrangements for that, make sure it happens and Matsuda doesn't decide to keep her as a pet or something along those lines, everything will be fine. But I can't push for her departure too much, otherwise it'll look too suspicious..._

Ryuk broke his thought process. "So is this what the god of the new world does? Babysit young humans and tell them stories about shy imaginary friends?"

"Shut up, Ryuk."


	4. Chapter 4

_Screaming_

_Running_

_People_

_Stuck_

_Dad_

_Dead dad_

_Screaming_

_Running_

_Stuck_

_Can't look_

_Can't look away_

_Dead dad dead dad dead dad..._

Keiko's eyes flew open, and she clapped a hand over her mouth to prevent herself from screaming loudly and possibly disturbing anyone. Her hand started to shake as she began to sob into it, tears rolling down her face and dripping onto her dress. If Star Jr was able to breath, he would have found himself suddenly winded as Keiko picked him up and clutched him to her chest with her other hand. When Light and Keiko had returned from recovering the toy, she'd curled up on the sofa with him. She must have fallen asleep, or she wouldn't be waking up from a nightmare...

Shuddering as she thought it over, Keiko slid off the sofa, wiping her eyes and getting to her feet. She really didn't want to go back to sleep, not after that. Besides, she didn't feel at all tired right now. Maybe because of the nap in the dumpster... but what could she do?

It was then that she heard a noise from further away. Someone was still here, and awake for that matter.

Curiosity piqued, Keiko slowly navigated around the various pieces of furniture in the room, lingering in the doorway she eventually reached. From here she could see someone - Ryuzaki, she thought it was - crouching in the chair everyone had been surrounding earlier, only now he was alone. It took him a little longer to realise that Keiko was there, and when he did, he simply said "Nightmare." It was more of a statement than a question, but Keiko answered with a nod anyway, before asking in a quiet voice "C-can I sit with you for a bit?"

Ryuzaki continued to watch the girl for a few moments. "Yes, you can sit with me." Keiko gave a small smile before moving over to a chair near Ryuzaki's, hopping up onto it and watching him as he took a cherry from the bowl in front of him.

Keiko watched Ryuzaki for a few more moments before jumping up so she was almost standing on the chair, before attempting to lower herself down into the crouching position the other was sat in. After a little while of frowning down at her legs and balancing on her toes, her body gave way, sending Keiko falling forwards with a small "Oof!" sound.

"Are you okay, Star?" Ryuzaki wasn't watching as Keiko nodded, picking herself up and returning to her normal sitting position. He was reaching down to pick up Star Jr, who had fallen to the floor along with its owner. Holding the panda by its ear in his usual way, his eyes flickered over it, eventually resting on its stomach. Or rather, the fairly large split running down it. "I seem to have broken your toy, Star."

But Keiko wasn't looking shocked or upset. She just smiled, shaking her head and taking Star Jr back into her arms to examine the split down the middle. "It's meant to be like that!" Then she leant forward, whispering as if she was telling Ryuzaki a hugely important secret "I use it to hide sweets from my dad.". To back up her point she reached a small hand inside, pulling out a rather crumpled packet of strawberry laces. Holding the packet out, she asked "Would you like a strawberry lace, Ryuzaki?"

"...Yes, I'll exchange a cherry for a strawberry lace." Keiko nodded, pulling a lace out of the packet and giving it to the other person, taking the cherry that she was offered and popping in into her mouth. The two sat in silence for a few moments, each chewing on their respective foods. As he put two more cherries in his mouth, Ryuzaki glanced at Keiko, who was busy sealing Star Jr's stomach back up. Then he stuck out his tongue, revealing that he'd somehow tied the two cherry stems in a knot.

Keiko squealed, staring with wide eyes. "How did you do that?" When Ryuzaki gave no answer she decided to try it herself, taking a pair of cherries out of the bowl and putting them into her mouth. She frowned in concentration, going cross eyed as she tried to look down at her mouth while trying to copy Ryuzaki's little trick. Eventually she groaned into defeat, taking the stalk out of her mouth and putting it on the table. "Ewwwwwww." She looked at the bowl, intending to take another pair of cherries after demanding Ryuzaki to show her the trick again, but there was only one pair left. Which Ryuzaki was also looking at.

"I'll play you for that!" Keiko giggled, pointing at the bowl. Ryuzaki looked a little confused until she held out a small fist. "Rock paper scissors! 1, 2, 3!"

Keiko picked paper, Ryuzaki picked scissors.

"You win! But it's best out of three!"

Keiko picked rock, Ryuzaki picked paper.

"...Best out of five!"

Ryuzaki picked paper again. Keiko made a gun shape with her hand and 'fired' it at the other player. "I shot you! That means I get the cherries!"

"So when you're losing..." Ryuzaki began as Keiko reached out and took the cherries with a triumphant grin, talking more to himself than the young girl. "You raise the stakes before pulling out a trick that no-one else knows about. That's one of your tactics."

Keiko frowned, processing the words. "Yeah, I guess so! It worked though, I won! You lost!"

"...Let's play again."

It was a long while later when Keiko, now sprawled out on the floor with the empty packet of strawberry laces next to her, yawned, rubbing her eyes and sitting up. "Ryuzaki, I'm tired now..." She said sleepily, standing up and moving back over to Ryuzaki's chair. The intention had been to scramble onto his lap, but due to his strange sitting position, she only managed to slide into a gap between his body and the arm of the chair. Closing her eyes, she leant against Ryuzaki, wrapping her arms around his waist. "Thank you for letting me sit with you, Ryuzaki. It's been fun..!" Her words trailed off in another yawn, and she opened one eye the tiniest little bit to see Ryuzaki looking down at her. "That's alright, Star."

Keiko frowned. "My name's not Star..." She mumbled sleepily, burying her face into Ryuzaki's side. "It's Keiko..."

"Well then, goodnight, Keiko." But Ryuzaki's words were lost on Keiko as her eyes slid shut, falling asleep once again.


	5. Chapter 5

**Yes, I enjoyed writing that last chapter :3 Who knows, I guess I just think L is good with kids xD Sorry this took a while to post! School happened x.x**

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><p>"I want to keep her."<p>

From her sitting position in the corner of the room, Keiko was only half hearing the conversation that was going on between Ryuzaki and the task force. Not that she was particularly interested - she was much more focused on using the felt tips that Matsuda had brought for her that morning to create a pretty picture. She looked up as she fumbled for the black felt tip, watching Light as he said in an exasperated voice "Ryuzaki... Is that even possible? A child is not a pet you can just sit in a corner!" He gestured towards Keiko before spinning around to face his father. "Dad! You of all people should understand that!"

Soichiro sighed, watching Keiko make a black scribble on her page as he spoke. "Light's speaking the truth, Ryuzaki. With everything going on... is it really a good idea?"

"I've already used a few contacts to clear everything." Ryuzaki continued, turning back to his coffee and acting as if he hadn't heard anything the two members of the Yagami family had said. Maybe he hadn't. "If anyone attempts to file a missing person report, they'll be told that they know of Star's location and that she's in safe hands." It seemed like everyone else in the room had the same expression: disapproving and slightly confused at the same time. Including Keiko - why was Ryuzaki still calling her Star when she'd clearly said her name was Keiko? She puzzled over this for a moment or two before shrugging and reaching for the red felt tip, a small smile growing on her face.

"But Ryuzaki, I've- we've all already made the effort to find other arrangements, that won't work-"

"It will be a good insight into the mind of Kira." Ryuzaki cut Light off, turning his head to stare at him. "Do you have a problem with that, Light?"

As Light searched for a response, everyone turned to look at Keiko, who had stood up and was holding her piece of paper out with a proud smile. "Look! I did a drawing!"

"Wow, Star, that's really good!" Keiko giggled at Matsuda's praise, before proceeding to point to each of the stick figures she had drawn all standing in a line. "Look! I drew me and my dad and Ryuzaki and all of you! But I couldn't find a brown colour so you've got red hair, Light."

Matsuda, who was carefully studying the drawing, frowned, pointing at a black blob with arms and legs that Keiko had drawn next to the red-headed Light. "What's that, Star?"

Keiko looked at it, before turning to grin at Light as she saw a flash of recognition in his eyes. "I can't tell you! It's a secret!" Matsuda nodded, before carefully taking the scribble and showing it off. "Look, Ryuzaki! Isn't it good?"

Watching as Light relaxed ever so slightly, Ryuzaki said ever so slightly sarcastically "A true work of art. However, after saying all of this, she can't stay here tonight. We're moving to a new hotel room." Still looking at Light, he continued. "Soichiro, your family will be able to take her in for a night?"

Soichiro only managed to nod before Matsuda cut him off, once again talking about the drawing. "Hey, Star, how come your mum isn't on this picture? Keiko frowned, saying "I don't really remember her..." just around the same time Ryuzaki said "Dead.", causing Keiko's face to fall.

Matsuda blinked. "Dead? B-but how do you know?"

"Matsuda, I thought even an airhead like you would be able to work that out. Why else would we be making arrangements for care if at least one of her parents wasn't dead?" Ryuzaki said calmly, pausing to take a sip of his coffee and add a little more sugar. In the corner, Keiko gave a small sniffle. "Even what she said just now should confirm it. Both parents are dead. I'm assuming her mother died in childbirth, and as we know, her father was killed by Kira." Clearly, Ryuzaki's blunt words had had an effect on Keiko, hence why she ran forward and started hitting the back of his chair. "Shut up! SHUT UP about my parents! My dad was the nicest person EVER, unlike YOU!" She continued wailing along those lines over and over again, punching and kicking and only calming down when Light approached and picked her up, guiding her away from any solid objects.

"Perhaps, Light," Ryuzaki said, still more focused on his coffee. "You should take Star now."

* * *

><p>"Light, I'm boredddddd!" Keiko moaned, sitting on the floor and staring up at the older boy. "Can't I stay in your room with you?"<p>

By now Light had clearly had enough, as shown by his gritted teeth and death stare. "No. I've got a visitor, and you have to stay downstairs for now." From her position, Keiko could see into Light's room. She couldn't see Ryuk, but she _could_ see a blonde girl sitting on the bed, watching Light anxiously with wide eyes. "I'll play with you later, okay? Go downstairs."

Keiko gave a heavy sigh, getting to her feet. "Fineeeeee..." She groaned, slouching over and dragging her feet as she walked towards the stairs. As soon as she heard Light's door shut, however, she froze in her tracks, holding in a giggle as she crept back up the stairs and knelt down by Light's door. She couldn't see anything, but she could at least hear what was going on! And he'd never know! Keiko, you genius!

At first the conversation was rather boring. Keiko started to wonder if this was a good idea as she heard exchanges such as "I didn't know you had another sister, Light!" "I don't, I'm just... Babysitting..." Resting her head against the door, Keiko debated actually going downstairs, willing the conversation to get more interesting.

And it did.

As Keiko continued to listen to the conversation, her expression grew more and more confused as she mulled things over. What was a 'Death Note'? Why were they talking about Kira? And 'Death Gods'? Wait, no, it sounded like they were talking TO Kira and the Death Gods... whatever they were... Keiko's thought process suddenly cut off with a small "eep!" sound as the door suddenly opened and she fell forwards into a pair of feet before looking up at Light with a worried expression.

"Star! How much did you hear?" Light seemed a little more stressed than usual as he gabbed Keiko's hand, tugging her into the room and locking the door as a precaution, as well as out of habit. Keiko swallowed nervously, but just as she was about to answer, she was interrupted by a squeal. "Oh! She is adorable!" The girl, now on the floor, clapped her hands, holding her arms out. "Come to Misa-Misa!" Light made a small noise as he watched Keiko be pulled onto Misa's lap and get distracted by playing with Misa's necklace. . "Star," Light repeated, watching as Keiko tried to turn her head to look at the older boy but had to stay in place due to Misa starting to plait some strands of her hair, "What did you hear?"

There was a small pause, before Keiko exclaimed "Everything! What's a Death Note? Why were you talked about Kira? What's a Death God? What's going on? Who's this person?" All of the questions, that had passed through Keiko's mind earlier tumbled out of her mouth, and she would have continued to ask more, had Light not held up a hand to silence her. Another awkward pause. Then Misa, after picking Keiko up slightly and squeezing her in a hug, set the young girl down on the floor, brushing her dress down. "I should probably go, I've got a tape to make after all! But promise you'll see me soon, Light! And I promise not to let you down!" She grabbed his hand. "You can see me out now!" Light glanced at Keiko, almost as if to say 'stay put', before being dragged off by Misa.

A few minutes later Light returned, giving a heavy sigh and flopping into his desk chair. Judging by the way he gave a small start when he saw Keiko sat on the bed, he'd completely forgotten about her. The two sat and stared at each for a short while, Keiko's questions running through both of their minds. And then, out of the blue, Light said "Do you know how to write, Star?"

Keiko bit her lip, watching her legs as she swung them backwards and forwards. "Well... I kinda know how to write my first name... But I'm not very good at writing."

"...Come here. I'll teach you." Keiko jumped off the bed and ran over, prompting Light to look away from his computer screen and down at her. "Close your eyes and count to ten." Going along with it, Keiko closed her eyes, but a large clunking noise prompted her to open them ever so slightly, allowing her to catch sight of Light's hand pushing a drawer closed. Keiko made a mental note to investigate it later.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now." Keiko did so, holding her arms out as Light bent down and swung her onto his knee. A notebook was lying open on the table at two blank pages, and a pen sat on top of it. Light reached around Keiko's side and picked the pen up, glancing at his computer screen as he said to Keiko "Let's start off easy..." Interestingly, he didn't write in the notebook, instead picking a scrap of paper up from the corner of his desk along with another pen, which he handed to Keiko. "Here, just copy the characters as I write them." With that, he took the lid off his pen, clearly writing the first symbol on the paper. Biting her lip in concentration, Keiko did her best to copy Light, shakily writing the symbol on the larger piece of paper to the best of her ability. The two continued in that way for another minute or so, until Keiko tried to read out her completed word. "Hatu... Kara? What does that mean, Light?"

"Oh, nothing... It's just a series of characters to help you learn to write." Light lied, giving Keiko a quick smile before returning his gaze to the computer screen, scrolling down a page. "Here, let's try another... series."

Keiko was all too happy to oblige, getting absorbed in trying to copy the characters Light wrote down and completely missing the small laugh he accidently let out.


	6. Chapter 6

**This was a difficult chapter to write, and I'm still not happy with it x.x Bloody drawer. **

**Thanks for the reviews! All of the people wishing to punch Light, please, step forwards! xD And Phoenix, I read through all of the rules (good god) and I think you're thinking of the one where it states that a death god can't directly hand the note to anyone under 6, I think? Doesn't say anything about them recieving it through a third party...**

**Anyway, enough of my waffling. Onwards! Keiko got guts.**

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><p>There was a strange thrill in staying up in the later hours. Something about looking out at the dark night and imagining everyone else asleep sent tingles through Keiko for some reason.<p>

However, it could get rather boring.

Sighing, Keiko hopped down from the chair she'd been standing on to look out of the window, grabbing Star Jr who had been sat on the windowsill looking out at the stars too before wandering back over to the sofa-turned-bed she had woken up in not so long ago. After she had finished writing with Light and he'd finally gotten around to setting up the sofa as a bed for her, she'd collapsed and snuggled up underneath the blanket... Only to wake up what felt like not too long afterwards.

In all honesty, after the nightmare she'd had the other night, she was a little scared of sleeping. So she didn't mind too much. But what could she do instead? Everyone else would be asleep, so she couldn't play with them or do anything noisy like turn the TV on. She'd left her felt tips at the hotel room, so Ryuzaki or Matsuda must have picked them up along with her pad of paper... Hey! She could get some paper from Light's room and try writing again! He'd be really impressed with her then, she knew it!

Fuelled by determination to impress Light, and everyone else to boot, Keiko scooped up Star Jr and opened the door as quietly as she could, slipping through the gap and out. She took a moment to get her bearings before heading towards the stairs. She was churning a plan over in her head, and rapidly finding more and more holes in it... Firstly, the paper would be in Light's room. She'd have to reach that drawer somehow! And then of course, Light would be asleep... Keiko had regularly snuck into her dad's room to retrieve things she had left in there - a stuffed toy, for example - but she knew his room like the back of her hand, and her dad slept like a log. Was Light a light sleeper? Keiko chewed on her lip and made a small noise, pulling herself up the stairs ever-so-slowly. Ohhhh, what should she do? What if Light shouted at her? What if he didn't like her anymore?

Once Keiko used child logic to balance it out in her mind, she decided that the results of succeeding would help her out a lot. And if it went wrong, he couldn't hate her! No-one hated her! Well, as far as she knew... By the time she had decided this she was staring up at Light's bedroom door. Biting her lip, she dropped Star Jr with a quick mutter of 'Stay on guard!' before stretching up right onto her toes to reach the door handle. By straining her fingers she managed to just hook two fingers around the handle and push it down, quickly jumping backwards and wincing as the door creeped open. She couldn't help but feel a little excited as she dropped to the floor and crawled into the room, ignoring the fact that she was scuffing her new pyjamas. Before she had left Matsuda and Light had made up a rucksack of essential items for her to use, as a temporary measure before they could access Keiko's house and get her own things. It was a cute pair, picked out by Matsuda – blue, with smiling panda heads on them. Keiko liked them a lot, but they weren't as cosy as her normal pyjamas.

Once she was sure she was past Light's bed and she had reached his desk, Keiko stood up. Now, which drawer was it in? Come on Keiko, remember when you peeked! She pulled open the bottom one. Assorted pens, broken pencils, some sort of thick book that didn't have any pictures in - not very exciting. Keiko took a pen anyway - after all, she was going to need one to write! Pushing that drawer shut, Keiko moved onto the next one. Nothing there, either...

It was then that noises started coming from the side of the room where Light was sleeping, causing Keiko to freeze and stare at him wide eyed. She almost bolted then, but she fought the urge to fly out and down the stairs, almost like she had wings- Ryuk! Where was Ryuk? If he came back and woke Light up, she'd get caught! And she rather enjoyed being stealthy. Thankfully, he just rolled over, and Keiko couldn't help but giggle as she watched him squeeze a pillow to his chest. Anyway, focus. Going onto her tiptoes, Keiko stretched for the top drawer, her small hand clutching a key. Turning it, she pulled the drawer open, before gripping it and using it to hoist herself up onto the chair to get a better look in it. A locked diary. That was it. Sighing in defeat, Keiko settled back in the chair with a disappointed expression... Until she spotted something that the change in light had revealed.

Had Light broken his drawer or something? Keiko frowned, extending a small finger to lift up the side of the clearly-broken bottom in the drawer. Maybe she shouldn't be doing this... Light might shout at her... But hey! SHE wasn't the one that had broken the drawer! Besides, at home Keiko usually got away with things. Light might even thank her for pointing out to him that his drawer was broken. He'd been very careless... Sound in her own logic, Keiko was about to attempt to fit the piece of wood back where it should be when she noticed something. Frowning in concentration, she slid two fingers into the gap, wriggling her hand ever so gently when she felt her fingers grab something. What was underneath here? Keiko could swear her fingers had brushed past some kind of rubber, even a bit of cold metal... what was that for? Anyway, she was more concerned about what was now between her fingers - it felt almost like it could be paper!... and, as Keiko found out when she started to ever-so-gradually wriggle the object out between the gap, it was indeed paper. A whole booklet of it!

Grinning at her success, Keiko took the notebook into both hands to study it, frowning as she opened it and flicked through the pages. Hey! This must have been the notebook she wrote in earlier, her shaky 'handwriting' was all over the pages! But what was it? Something that Light had bought and just never gotten around to using? Keiko turned back to the front cover, her eyes flicking over the words on it. Keiko was a fairly good reader, at least for her age, but this didn't seem to be in Japanese... Keiko tilted the book, trying to catch it in the small streak of light that was shining through the window as if that would magically reveal what the white words were. It was then that Keiko recognised what one of the first English (as she now knew it was written in) words was, mainly because she'd been exposed to it so many times on so many visits to places related with the word:

'Death'.

That was a strange word to have on the front cover of a notebook! Ah well. Maybe it was some older kid thing that Keiko didn't understand yet. Shrugging, Keiko pushed the drawer shut as best she could, hopping down from Light's chair and landing with a soft _plop_. Taking a quick glance at the sleeping teenager to check he was actually still asleep, Keiko clutched the book to her chest as she crossed the room and slid out of the door, scooping up Star Jr as she passed. "Good job, Star Jr..." She whispered, her words trailing off in a yawn as she went down the stairs. She was feeling rather tired now... But she'd just got the paper! _Ah, I can have a go tomorrow... Maybe with Light... _She thought to herself, reentering the living room and crouching down by the edge of the sofa. Yawning again and rubbing her eyes to clear her vision before unzipping the rucksack that was currently under her ownership, sliding the notebook and the pen she had taken inside. And then, with her eyes partly closed already, she scrambled back onto the sofa, snuggling up under the blanket again and hugging Star Jr to her chest... much like she'd been hugging the notebook that was now sound in her bag.

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><p>Rubbing his eyes, Light sat up, quickly glancing around the room. It only took him a few seconds to work out someone had been in his room: his door was slightly open, and one of the drawers was also slightly open. Blinking to clear his vision, he got up and crossed over to his desk, pulling the drawer open and studying the upturned false bottom.<p>

The Death Note was gone.

But rather than panicking, Light smirked.

A child's curiosity and determination were wonderful things.


	7. Chapter 7

**Bit of a rambling chapter this as I decide where on earth I'm going with the plot next. I have an idea for the future, but no idea how to get there... x.x Anyway! Thanks for all the reviews and what not! Keiko hugs for all.**

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><p>"I'm glad you agreed to have another game of tennis with me, Light."<p>

Light tilted his head to look at Ryuzaki, giving him a small smile. "Well, our last game was fun. So why not?" He looked ahead again, twisting the tennis racket around in his hand as the two walked. "It will be good for Keiko to get out and about, too."

Light and Ryuzaki fell silent as they both watched Keiko who had been running a short way ahead of them, but had now come to a halt to tug on a piece of string in her hands. The string extended way up into the sky, eventually branching out into a colourful kite that fluttered and flew across the sky according to Keiko's pulls. With some guidance from Light and the rest of the Task Force, L had decided that Keiko would need something other than an ice cream (or four) to keep her entertained while the two played. Although he honestly couldn't understand why sweet food was simply not enough to entertain someone, he and Light had bought the kite for Keiko at a small shop they had passed near the entrance of the park. Of course, Light had other motives - if he kept Keiko distracted, she might not blab on so much, avoiding the risk of her revealing something.

_Where's the Death Note, Star? What have you done with it? _Allowing the Death Note to fall into the hands of a small child had many risks, most (if not all) he believed he'd though of and covered. For example, what if she - as many small children attempt to do -decided to keep a secret diary and used the Death Note? While that could be an advantage, in particular if she wrote a member of the task force's name down, what if she wrote the name of a certain Light Yagami? As soon as he'd had this worry, however, he'd laughed at himself for being so silly. She didn't even know his full name, and besides, she couldn't write very well at all. He'd seen as much last night.

Noticing that Light and L were starting to catch up, Keiko started to run again, letting the kite trail behind her as she darted around the young men in a small circle, giggling madly. As she ran off again, L looked over at the small cage of tennis courts they were heading towards, before stating the obvious to Light. "Ah, all of the courts are taken." His gaze drifted to the left slightly as he chewed on his thumb. "Light, may I go and get some more ice cream?"

"You really haven't been out much, have you?" Light sighed. "You don't have to ask my permission, Ryuzaki. Besides, you have the money." L nodded and walked off, still chewing on his thumb and remaining in his usual slouching position as he did so.

It was then that Keiko ran over to Light, continuing to run in small circles around him for a short while until she suddenly came to a halt, frowning. Light matched her expression as he looked down. "Star? Is something bothering you?"

"Light..." Keiko began, looking up at the fluttering kite as she continued. "You never told me what a Death Note was!" The look on her face made it clear that something was really bothering her, most likely what she had just asked Light about. If Light had been in any way unsure about whether the young girl had the Death Note or not, her words confirmed it for him. But how should he respond? Quickly, Light, think of something, before Keiko gets distracted and leaves - only to blab to a random passer by later. Or worse, runs over to ask L and moan about how Light wouldn't tell her and how he was a great big meanie.

Actually...

"To tell the truth, Star, I'm not sure... Why don't you go and ask L what one is?"

* * *

><p>As Keiko ran off with her kite, leaving Light standing there with his tennis racket, various thoughts flew through her head, most of them concerning the black book with 'Death' written on it. She hadn't dared take it out of her bag since she had put it in there at whatever time she had done so last night. In fact, something about it made her a little... scared, to be honest. And (although she didn't know it), boy did it show. Earlier that day Matsuda had apologised profusely for allowing Keiko to leave her new felt tips behind, and had gone to put them in the rucksack - only for Keiko to dive forwards and snatch the bag out of his reach, tumbling across the floor with it safely in her grasp. Matsuda, when he had finished being shocked, had passed it off as a 'cute childlike clinginess', to use his exact words. But Keiko just didn't want him seeing the note. Just in case.<p>

But why was she so scared of it! It wasn't a monster! She could almost hear her dad's voice telling her off for being so stupid; feel his arms around her as he said it would all be alright and that nothing evil would ever touch her...

Maybe she was just scared because she had heard it mentioned in the same conversation as the word 'Kira'.

Keiko shuddered then, and not due to the cold breeze that had suddenly hit her and the kite, causing it to twist and turn wildly. Unlike the others, she didn't really look at the newspapers and such that always seemed to display the word, but she had managed to pick up a few ideas.

One, Kira was bad.

Two, The people she was staying with, particularly Ryuzaki and Light, were going to stop Kira.

Three... Kira had killed many, many people. Including her dad.

Before Keiko could get fully worked up and burst into a full-on crying fit as thoughts of her dad, particularly his death, flooded her mind, Ryuzaki's voice broke through. "Star?" Suddenly Keiko realised that, while she'd been mulling all of this over, she had reached Ryuzaki and had been standing by his side for a good while. Why?... Oh yeah! A small smile spread onto her face as she looked up and asked "Ryuzaki? Do you know what a Death Note is?"

L's eyes widened slightly, even with him sporting his usual stare. He stayed silent for a few moments, before responding with a simple "I don't, Star." Making a face, Keiko nodded and ran off again, leaving L to accept his ice cream and walk back over to Light. Even though he exchanged small conversation with Light as they walked over to the now-free tennis court, only one thing was running through his mind. Or rather, one sentence, taken from a certain diary they had received:

_'We looked at each other's notebooks...'_

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><p>"Hey, I don't suppose you have any apples on ya, do you kid?"<p>

Keiko shook her head. "Sorry, Ryuk." She said sadly, adjusting her legs so they were folded over one another. She was sat cross legged on the grass, Ryuk laying next to her on one side, the kite crumpled on her other. Occasionally one of them would make a small noise as, not too far away from them, either Light or L scored in their current tennis game. Keiko's small head bobbed back and forth for a short while as she watched the ball in the distance, before flopping forwards and rolling onto her side, mirroring Ryuk's position. "Ryuk?"

"Huh?"

"Why do you follow me around now and not Light?" Completely unfazed by Ryuk, Keiko watched his strange eyes flicker around as he tried to think of what to say. Eventually he responded with "Well, you have something of mine."

Keiko got to her feet, picking the kite up and throwing it into the air. It made a U turn and nose dived straight into the ground. "Huh? I do? Ryuk, will you fly that into the air for me?"

Ryuk glanced at the kite before making a small noise, begrudgingly picking it up and flying into the air. When it had caught in the wind he returned to earth to answer Keiko's question.

Well, he would have, if Keiko hadn't suddenly been grabbing by another blonde girl who seemingly came out of nowhere yelling "Light! I found you!"

Keiko gave a small yelp and starting kicking out at the girl, who was clinging onto her and didn't seem to be letting go any time soon. In her flailing she let go of the kite, which promptly soared upwards and got tangled in a nearby tree. "My kite!" Keiko's wail caused the girl to pause in her rabid hugging and sit up, allowing the younger girl to recognise her as the person who had been at Light's house with her yesterday. "You're not Light! But I thought if I found Ryuk, I'd find Light!" The blonde got to her feet, pointing at the shinigami that had burst out laughing next to the two girls. Keiko frowned, getting to her feet and looking up. "You made me let go of my kite..." Misa turned to frown up at the tree as well, stretching up onto her toes and waving her hand into the air, a good distance from the kite. "Oh no! Sorry, Keiko, I can't reach it!"

Too focused on the puzzle of retrieving her kite to notice that Misa, unlike everyone else in her life recently, _hadn't_ called her Star, Keiko marched over to the tree, staring up at it. Well, Ryuk wasn't going to be any help - he was just standing there watching Keiko. Probably to see if what she was about to do was 'interesting'. Well, she'd show him! Gritting her teeth and ignoring Misa's small gasp, Keiko took a quick look at the tree before reaching out and gripping it, making a small noise as she put her weight on her hands to hoist one of her legs up and scrape it along the tree until she found somewhere to place her foot. Was this really a good idea? Of course it was! She'd climbed plenty of trees before! Admittedly, they were slightly smaller than this one... Swallowing and fighting the urge to look down, knowing that would make things worse, Keiko continued, hearing Light's voice now. "M-Misa? What are you doing here?" A pause. "...Why is Keiko up a tree?"

By now Keiko was indeed up the tree, gripping onto it as she inched her way around until her feet were on something a little bit wider, namely, a branch. To be specific, the one her kite was draped over, fluttering helplessly. She couldn't help but look down - to the people on the ground, staring up at her with wide eyes (well, wider than usual, in Ryuzaki's case) and yelling at her to get down,she didn't seem that high up.

But to Keiko? She might as well have been in space.

No! She couldn't back out now! Not when she was so close! Keiko knelt down and crawled inch by inch towards the kite, occasionally becoming daring and taking a hand off the branch to strain for it. She wasn't paying attention to the people on the ground below shouting up at her and trying to decide what to do - her prize was in reach! Ever so slowly she crawled along the thankfully-tough branch, finally reaching the kite and closing her hand around it. Success!

"Okay, Keiko, you've got the kite, now COME DOWN! I don't want to come up after you!" Elated by her success, Keiko flashed Light - who didn't actually look too concerned, to be honest - a quick smile before going to turn around on the branch, moving her arms behind her and carefully twisting herself around.

Which was when her hand slipped against the bark and she plummeted, letting go of the kite once again as she screamed and clutched the branch for dear life with both hands, too focus on that to listen to the suddenly raised voices.

Then one hand.

And then, as she scrabbled for a hold, none.

Keiko squeezed her eyes shut, screaming along with Misa, the air rushing past her face as she fell for what seemed like miles and miles to her. She didn't want to see the ground she was about to hit at full force! Ohhh, this had been such a bad idea! Despite this, Keiko couldn't help but open her eye slightly as she began bracing herself for the imminent crash...

The last thing she saw before slamming into the ground was L and Light; L standing there with his arms held out casually as if to catch her, Light just standing there and watching her as her eyes slid shut.


	8. Chapter 8

**And here's where I'm going to have to start messing with the plot a little to make it work, I think. You can tell my brain's dead, IDEK what's going on any more. Such fun~ Thanks for all the reviews and story alerts!**

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><p>"Can you try and make her sit normally, please? It's a little hard to do the stitches."<p>

The hospital worker moved in again with the needle, and Keiko couldn't help but flinch, toppling slightly from her perched position. She had finally perfected sitting like L, and as a result was determined to show that off as much as possible. The man himself was sat just across from her in the small room, chewing on his thumb as he looked up. "If she wants to sit like that, why shoudn't she sit like that?"

With a pained look the nurse nodded and twisted her arm around Keiko's hunched position to resuming stitching Keiko's head wound. The small girl went cross eyed as she tried to look up at what was going on, scowling and wrinkling her nose at the tugging sensation she could feel. To take her mind off it, she decided to talk to L, who had somehow managed to steal some ice cream from a different part of the building. "Where did Light go?"

"Light?" L didn't look up from his ice cream. "Oh, he received some news about his girlfriend." Satisfied with this answer, Keiko went back to hugging her legs, glancing around the room. It was indeed a rather small place, filled with little furniture and painted an interesting shade of green, most likely to act as a 'calming' colour. Keiko had never liked the colour green. And she didn't like this situation much either.

"I'm boredddddd!" Keiko moaned, shifting from side to side before the nurse gave her a look and she stopped. L glanced up again. "Your wound is almost stitched up, Star." He told her, only to receive a groan from Keiko. The nurse glanced down at her. "How did you do this, anyway?"

"I fell out of a tree." Keiko said matter-of-factly, before a shocked expression appeared on her face. "My kite! Where's my kite?" A pause. "I let go of it again!"

The only response Keiko received was the sound of the door opening – Light had come back. He looked concerned, crossing over and taking the rickety-looking seat next to L. He glanced at the nurse, before saying to L "Misa? Really?"

"I have evidence." L replied simply. A flicker of confusion crossed the nurse's face. Clearly, she didn't quite follow what the two males were talking about (which, of course, was the intention.) Keiko didn't either, only unlike the nurse, she decided to ask a question. "Light, is Misa your girlfriend?"

Light turned to look at Keiko. "Huh? Yes."

"Do you love her? Lots and lots and lots?"

Light gave a small laugh, which might have been a slightly nervous one considering L had turned to stare at him with interest. "Well, of course I do, Star! She's my girlfriend." Quickly, he tried to divert the attention back onto Keiko. "Like your parents loved each other, I imagine."

It worked. Feeling that she was taking part in an important conversation, Keiko nodded, responding with "Yeah! My daddy loved my mummy very very much!" She hesitated before continuing, her voice wobbling slightly. "A-and I loved my dad very much!"

Sensing an upset, the nurse seemed to work double time, eventually straightening up. "Okay! You're all done!" She said cheerfully, although it sounded strained. Clearly, she _loved _working with children. Sniffling, Keiko hopped off the seat. "Do you want a... treat?" When Keiko nodded the nurse disappeared, and the young girl looked after her before running over to the two men and clinging onto the nearest one, which happened to be L. Unsure of what to do he looked down at her, awkwardly putting a hand on her shoulder as she moaned "My head hurts..."

"The pain will fade soon. No need to moan." Was all he managed to tell her before the nurse reappeared, holding a yellow balloon in her hand. "Here you go!" She said with a small smile, leaning over and handing the balloon to Keiko. L carefully prised Keiko away before starting to walk. "Let's leave now. I am eager to get back, and the nurse's clear unenthusiasm for her job grates on me."

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><p>"What's that?"<p>

It seemed that the whole task force jumped when Keiko spoke, whipping around to stare at her. The balloon she had received three days ago was safely tied around her wrist, and it bobbed against the ceiling, filling in the silence with the noises it occasionally made. When no-one responded, she pointed to the screen that they all seemed to be watching. "Is that Misa?" A pause. "She doesn't look happy."

Understatement.

"No, Star, no she doesn't. Ryuzaki, this is cruel!" Aizawa looked the most stressed Keiko had ever seen him as he gestured to the screen, where the confined Misa could be seen. "She's begging us to kill her!"

L didn't respond, simply taking a sip of his tea and appearing to be more focused on watching the screen and mulling things over. Eventually, however, he spoke, although it was nothing to do with Misa or her wellbeing. "Take Star out of here."

"What? No! I want to stay here with you!" Keiko's protests fell upon deaf ears as the three other task force members suddenly remembered there was a small child in the room. Matsuda acted first, spinning around and scooping Keiko up. She kicked out at him, bringing her small wrist down to hit the balloon off his head. "I want to stay in here!"

"Sorry, Star, but you can't!" Matsuda's expression was strained as he set Keiko down, only to catch her as she tried to dart past him. "Look, we'll sit down here! Where's your felt tips?" Keiko did not look like a happy child – she was sat on the floor, arms folded and glaring up at Matsuda. "I don't want to colour in. I want to be with Ryuzaki and the others." Matsuda looked pained, and his eyes darted around the room for something, _anything, _that he could give to Keiko to make her happy in any way. Eventually, he decided on just distracting her. "Where's Star Jr? I haven't seen him around for a while!"

"Oh! He's guarding my bag." Much to Matsuda's relief, this train of thought distracted Keiko – she hopped up and ran through a doorway, quickly returning with her beloved panda toy. Its head drooped slightly, almost as if it was sad at being left alone. "Here!"

"Oh! Hello, Star Jr!" Matsuda laughed, reaching out and petting the panda's head. Then he frowned. "Why was he guarding your bag?"

Keiko's face dropped at the question, but it suddenly became relieved again as the door opened and Light walked in. He looked slightly shocked, and his eyes kept flickering around the room like he was incredibly self conscious. Matsuda looked concerned, straightening up. "Hey, Light? You okay?"

Light's head snapped up, and he put his hands – which Keiko noticed were shaking – into his pockets. "Matsuda," He began, with a tone that sounded almost depressed. "Shouldn't you be with the rest of the Task Force?"

"Huh? Oh... yeah, I guess." Matsuda sighed, looking down. "I was just... ah, never mind! Are you coming through too, Light?"

"Possibly in a minute, Matsuda..."

Once Matsuda had gone back though to rejoin the others, Light moved over to Keiko, kneeling down in front of her so he was at her level. "Star..." He began, looking straight into Keiko's confused eyes. "I might not be around for a while."

"Why? Where are you going?"

"Just... away." Keiko didn't look too satsified with this answer, so Light quickly moved on, pulling a few pieces of paper out of his pockets and handing them to Keiko. "Here. I wrote down some more strings of words for you to try and write. That'll keep you going while I'm gone."

Keiko frowned, glancing down at the first page. Her face light up slightly. "There's pictures!" A pause. "They're strange."

Light gave a small laugh. "Yes. I thought that would make things interesting." He got to his feet. "Just copy the characters as best as you can, okay?"

"Sure, Light!" Keiko smiled, before becoming serious when he said quietly "Oh, and Star... don't tell anyone. You can make it a surprise." A pause. "Think how impressed Ryuzaki would be."

And with that Light left, leaving Keiko to mull things over. Where was Light going? How long would he be gone for? What was going on? Frowning, she looked down at her pieces of paper, deciding to fold them up and put them inside Star Jr for now. The sweets she had stored in there had mysteriously disappeared not so long ago, so there was plenty of room.

Not too long afterwards, Keiko looked up to see Light again. Only this time, his hands were tied, a blindfold around his eyes.

It seemed like, ever since she'd climbed into that dumpster, her life had started making less and less sense.


	9. Chapter 9

**This chapter was a BITCH to write. Writing as L kills me, and I don't even know if it makes sense x.x Enjoy! (I hope...)**

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><p>It had been a fairly peaceful afternoon until Matsuda had burst in.<p>

"R-Ryuzaki!" He clutched a few pieces of paper in his hand, and his expression was ever so slightly panicked in contrast to L's calmer look. "What is it, Matsuda?"

From a corner of the room Keiko looked up, her face bright and colourful due to the fact that she had somehow managed to get felt tip streaks all over her body. She took a moment to frown at her rainbow striped hands before looking up again as Matsuda handed the pieces of paper out to L. "Even more criminals are dying! The numbers have practically doubled in the past week or so!"

Intrigued, Keiko abandoned her current drawing - her, L and Star Jr playing with a kite underneath a tree - and crawled over to L's chair, her head popping up next to the chair arm as she peered over at the sheets. She squinted as if that would help her read the many different characters and numbers written on the page, glancing up as L asked "Does this report contain the names of those that have died?"

"Yeah... here!" Matsuda leant over, flipping through a few pages. "The list starts there..."

For a few moments both L and Keiko scanned the first page of the list. L was clearly getting more out of it than Keiko was, but she liked feeling as if she was part of something important. L's hand moved across the table in front of him, navigating cups and bowls of sweet things before plucking a different piece of paper from one of the many piles. He held the two pieces of paper in front of him. "If I attempted to find a pattern linking these two lists... apart from the fact that every name is that of a criminal, I would come up short."

Keiko tried to scramble up onto the arm of the chair as L put the lists down. He glanced at her before looking down, pointing at the list he had just picked up. "The names on here are very simple ones. Very few characters in them, a majority of letters the same..." He pointed at the other list. "These names are more in line with the previous victims of Kira. The other list feels very limited."

Suddenly he turned to Keiko, who had managed to get onto the chair arm and was furiously scrubbing at one of the felt tip marks on her arm. "Star. What do you think?" Ignoring Matsuda's small noise of confusion, he watched Keiko as she looked up. "Huh?" She frowned, thinking hard and looking at the lists as if inspiration would jump out at her. Eventually, she held up her finger and thumb with a smile. "There's two?"

L nodded. "Yes. I am 73% sure there are two different Kira's at this moment in time, one which has just come into effect."

Matsuda decided to butt in again. "But Light and Misa are in confinement! That means it isn't them, right?" L chewed on his thumb for a few moments, taking a small chocolate biscuit from one of the bowls and popping it into his mouth. Keiko, meanwhile, picked up one of the lists and swept her eyes across it, trying to pick out what each word meant.

Hang on... she recognised that string of words! Quickly, Keiko moved onto the next one. She recognised that one too! These had been written on the lists that Light had given her, just before he disappeared!

"Star? Have you noticed something!" Keiko almost fell off the chair arm as L shocked her out of her thoughts. She shook her head, her eyes still wide with confusion and shock as she handed the list back to L. He stared at her for a few moments before turning back to the TV screen in front of him. At first, Keiko had passed it off as a boring program, but as she looked closer, she realised it was Light, Misa - she recognised her from the blonde hair - and an older man that looked like Light's dad.

"There is still a possibility Light and Misa are the first and second Kiras." L began, taking another biscuit. "There were two Kira's before. There are two now." Following L's lead, Keiko leant forwards and took a biscuit out of the bowl for herself. L looked slightly shocked at that, but he quickly went back to his current train of thought. "It is possible that the power of Kira can be passed on from person to person. If that is the case..." As if to punctuate his point, he took a quick bite from his biscuit, making a sharp cracking noise. "It will make catching Kira practically impossible."

Matsuda looked slightly taken aback. "P-passing on the power? What are we meant to do then?"

"Isolate it." L said simply, turning back to the screen. "For now, I think it is necessary that we let this new Kira operate for a day at least.. A pattern may emerge."

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><p>A couple of long days later, and it was around 11pm. The Task Force - minus Light and his father, of course - were sat around L's chair. It was paperwork hell, with lists and photos and even a few video tapes and graphs thrown into the mix. Keiko was sat in front of L's chair - try as they might, no-one had been able to persuade Keiko to go to bed, hence why she was curled up on the floor with Star Jr and a bowl of sweets that Watari - with L's guidance - had provided. Probably to prevent her from stealing any more of L's.<p>

Eventually L glanced up, his eyes flicking around to look at everyone else before looking back down at the two most important pieces of paper: the two lists. The second had since expanded until it almost equalled the length of the first. L stared at the first list almost in disbelief for a few moments before looking up again. "With these expanded lists... we can form a profile of the two new Kiras." No-one spoke. Matsuda looked like he was going to, but he swallowed his words and allowed L to continue. "The times of death of the criminals killed by the first Kira are more spaced out compared to that of the second Kira, who has taken a little under two days to take the same amount of victims. That said, the times of these victims-" L held up the second list. "Have a large gap present for a good portion of the day, around 9am to 7pm."

"So... a working adult?"

"Yes." L gave a small nod before swiftly moving on. "Some of the victims are also not criminals."

As L paused to let that sink in, Keiko gave a small yawn, rubbing her eyes. No! She wanted to stay up with Ryuzaki! Putting her bowl of sweets down, she glanced upwards, scrambling onto her knees and peeking over the edge of the chair. She was very tempted to tickle L's bare feet, but decided that would not be a good idea. Especially when he looked like he was doing something very important. He continued, now with the addition of a wide eyed Keiko listening to him. "Some of those dead are business men high up in their respective companies, also dying of heart attacks." Chewing on his thumb, L picked up a different sheet, handing it to Aizawa. "We need to look into all the major companies in this area, and their current affairs. If it is indeed a business man or woman that has gained the power of Kira, there is a high chance that they will use it to kill their rivals. We need to locate the company they are part of."

Aizawa nodded, accepting the sheet and frowning. "You haven't said anything about the first Kira."

"I needed to establish the position of the second before I moved onto the first." L explained, reaching down and taking a candy out of Keiko's bowl. Ignoring her indignant noise, he began explaining his deductions once again. "I already said these killings are spread out. They tend to take place at a rate of only about two or three a day. At first, I thought this Kira could be another busy adult. But then I noticed that the names tended to be very simple."

At this point Keiko gave another yawn and slid down the chair to the floor again. This was boring - she'd heard all of this before! Interestingly, L started staring at her again, for long enough this time that Aizawa gave a small cough. "As you were saying..."

"Hm? Yes." L turned back. "The names are very simple. Easy for anyone to read and understand, I would say." A pause. "Easy for them to be killed by Kira."

L took a moment to adjust his legs, his bare feet rubbing over each other. Then slowly, he looked up from the table at Aizawa and Matsuda, saying carefully and deliberately "When I first contacted you, I asked that you cast away any prejudices you may have had towards Kira being a student. I am asking you to do so again."

"S-so... You think this Kira is also a student?"

"No. I believe Kira is a child."

Keiko's eyes had just started to drift shut when L said this. Suddenly she was jolted awake as Aizawa burst out "Ryuzaki! You can't seriously believe Kira is a child?"

"Please, let me finish." L said calmly, taking another candy. "I asked you to be calm and unprejudiced. I know you will not like my reasoning, but please be calm." Aizawa hesitated before settling back in his chair, a frown still very much present on his face. "The names are simple. The timings are very random, and no killings occur late at night. I am basing my theory here on the assumption that Kira's power can be passed from person to person. Light Yagami and Misa Amane, as you know, are still the top suspects. By rethinking and retracing their steps on the day Misa was taken into confinement, there is one person they both came into contact with that day that fits the profile I have drawn up."

"Who?"

Silence. And then:

"Star."


	10. Chapter 10

**Wow, this took a while for a chapter where, IMO, hardly anything happens x.x Enjoy it anyway!**

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><p>For a few moments there was silence.<p>

Keiko sat and pondered why she was being talked about.

And then all hell broke loose.

Aizawa was the first to protest, actually shooting to his feet to yell across the small table at L. "R-Ryuzaki! You can't SERIOUSLY be suggesting that a five year old girl is Kira?"  
>L remained calm, getting up and moving to his main seat by the monitor. "Not Kira. Merely a proxy."<br>"Even so..!" Aizawa cut off as Keiko glanced up at him and Matsuda, before scooping up Star Jr and crawling over to him. "What's happening? Why are you talking about me?"

With a pained expression on his face, Matsuda went to respond, but hesitated as L started to speak - albeit rather into his microphone than to Keiko. All he said was "Watari. We're ready." before glancing at Matsuda. "Matsuda. I need you blindfold Star." A pause. "Matsuda."

Frowning, Keiko got to her feet when she heard her name, before starting to groan and squirm when she felt something slip over her eyes. "Noooo! I don't like it!" She protested, trying to wriggle out of Matsuda's grip. Although she couldn't see him, L was watching the two, prompting him to suggest "It might be a good idea to restrain her hands too." A pause. "Make sure she has Star Jr. I don't want to deal with an upset child."

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><p>And so that was how Keiko found herself in a rather boring room, with only Star Jr to keep her company.<p>

"This is boring!" Keiko moaned to no-one in particular, rolling over to stare up at the ceiling for a change of scenery. Star Jr was sat on the rickety looking bed with the blindfold draped over one eye, listening to every word she said and watching as she got up. "I'm going to get us out of here!" She got up and stormed over to the door, pushing against it and straining to reach the handle. "Hellooooo?" Her small hand smacked against the door, but no-one came to open it. She hit harder. "Hey! Let me out! HEY!" Keiko demanded, continuing in this fashion for a little longer before giving in and sliding down the door with a groan. "It's hopeless, Star Jr..."

After that, time seemed to pass very slowly. Still, it gave Keiko some time to think things over. After amusing herself for a while by throwing Star Jr up and down to see if she could hit the ceiling, she sighed and flopped onto the bed. "Why am in hereeeee?" She moaned, wriggling slightly and wincing as she heard the bed creak. "I have nothing to do with Kira! That's what they were talking about before I came here!" Suddenly she frowned. "What is Kira, anyway? I know it's bad! But..."

"Kira is the one that killed your father, Star."

Keiko nearly jumped off the bed in shock when she heard L's voice. She shot up, eyes flicking around the room to try and see him. "Where are you?"  
>L ignored her question. "What do you think of Kira, Star?" Leaning on the wall, Keiko chewed on her lip and thought over what L had said to her. Eventually, she burst out with "I hate him!"<br>"You hate him?"  
>"He killed my dad!"<br>"Then why have you been acting as Kira?" The question was more likely L talking to himself than one directed towards Keiko, but she replied anyway. "I haven't! I haven't!"

Wait.

That day when her dad had collapsed. She'd been with him!

Keiko gave a small sob and flopped down again, rolling over to face the wall and curling up.

"Star. Star." Keiko ignored L repeating her 'name', giving another small sob when he finally stopped speaking. Her imagination was running wild now, and not in a good way. Ryuzaki was right! She was Kira, and she'd killed her dad! "I'm sorry!" She wailed, burying her face in Star Jr before realising that he reminded her of her dad and tossing the battered toy away.

"Star."

Keiko sat up then at the louder voice, shuffling around to look at L who was now standing in the doorway. He was holding Star Jr out in front of him with a quizzical look, almost as if he was inviting Keiko to come and take the panda. She didn't move though, looking slightly crumpled as she sniffled "R-Ryuzaki?"  
>"Yes?"<br>"...Am I Kira?"

L paused, chewing on his thumb, before finally saying "No. You are not Kira." At those words Keiko gave a small sob of relief, hopping off the bed and running over to cling onto L's leg. He stood like a statue as the young girl buried her face in his leg, eventually lowering an arm and patting her back in an awkward way, only because he thought it was the appropriate thing to do. "I do not think you are responsible for killing hundreds of people."

After a short while Keiko looked up, her face ever so slightly red as she asked hopefully "Does... does that mean I can come out of here now? I don't like it!" Much to her dismay, L shook his head, his dark hair bouncing slightly. "No. You have to kept in here."  
>"B-but why? I don't understand!"<br>"It's rather simple, really. I do not believe 100% you are Kira, but we need to keep you isolated to end your actions as him."

Keiko suddenly remembered that the door was open and struggled slightly, attempting to free herself from L's arm and dart past him to freedom. Of course, it didn't take long for L to work out what she was trying to do. He shifted his position before kicking his leg out, shutting the door with a 'clunk' sound that echoed Keiko's sinking heart. "Why won't you let me go..?" When L didn't respond, the young girl's emotions started to spiral out of control again, and she started wailing. "Whyyyy? You said I'm not Kira!"  
>"Star-"<br>"I want to go! I want to go home!" She stopped struggling and instead started hitting her small fists off L's side. "I thought you liked me! Let me go!"  
>"Star. Calm down." But Keiko was not to be deterred. She continued to wail and practically scream at L, hitting his side time and time again until he took matters into his own hands. He backed up, leant against the door, and proceeded to hold Keiko back with his foot. As she made a small noise and paused for a moment to frown down at L's bare foot on her chest, the owner spoke through the door. "Watari. I need help. Children are 67% more problematic than I originally estimated."<p> 


End file.
